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»Theresa May to shut down the internet as we know it«

By on May 22, 2017 in Big Brother, Censorship, Civil rights, Deep State, Free Information, Freedom of Speech, Internet, Privacy, surveillance, UK

“Some people say that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet,” it states. “We disagree.”

The Independent: Theresa May to Crete New Internet that would be Controlled and Regulated by Government »

Pull the various tech-related manifesto pledges together and – if the polls are correct and May wins a majority in next month’s election – the Conservatives could have a mandate from the British public for a significant extension of internet regulation, all based on the idea that a government’s duty to protect citizens exists just as much on the internet as it does in the real world.

Buzzfeed: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet »

“Balances” freedoms? Freedoms aren’t supposed to be “balanced.” They’re supposed to be supported and protected. And when you have your freedoms protected, that also protects users. Those two things aren’t in opposition. They don’t need to be balanced. As for “obligations for businesses and platforms” — those five words are basically the ones that say “we’re going to force Google and Facebook to censor stuff we don’t like, while making it impossible for any new platform to ever challenge the big guys.” It’s a bad, bad idea.

Techdirt: Theresa May Plans To Regulate, Tax And Censor The Internet »

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The NSA SWIFT hack

By on April 17, 2017 in Big Brother, Data Protection, EU, Europol, IT security, NSA, Privacy, Rule of law, surveillance, US

Reuters: Hacker documents show NSA tools for breaching global money transfer system »

Documents and computer files released by hackers provide a blueprint for how the U.S. National Security Agency likely used weaknesses in commercially available software to gain access to the global system for transferring money between banks, a review of the data showed.

On Friday, a group calling itself the Shadow Brokers released documents and files indicating NSA had accessed the SWIFT money-transfer system through service providers in the Middle East and Latin America. That release was the latest in a series of disclosures by the group in recent months.

Told you so.

Below, video from the hearings on NSA and mass surveillance in the European Parliament, 24 September 2013 – where Europol and many others try to steer clear of the SWIFT issue. (Some translation problems during a few minutes in the video, but it soon gets better.)

Youtube »

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Wikileaks to give tech companies heads up

By on March 9, 2017 in Big Brother, Intelligence, Internet, IoT, IT security, surveillance, US, Wikileaks

WikiLeaks will give technology companies access to information it has about the CIA’s hacking tools, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Thursday.

Assange said the organization will give details to let technology companies “develop fixes” before the information is published more widely, USA Today reported.

The Hill: WikiLeaks will give info on CIA hacking to tech companies »

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US: No reform of mass surveillance

By on March 6, 2017 in Big Brother, Civil rights, Data Retention, Intelligence, Internet, IT security, Law enforcement, NSA, Privacy, surveillance, US, War on Terror

The Trump administration does not want to reform an internet surveillance law to address privacy concerns, a White House official told Reuters on Wednesday, saying it is needed to protect national security.

• Reuters » White House supports renewal of spy law without reforms: official »
• Techdirt » Trump Administration Wants A Clean Reauthorization For NSA Surveillance »

An anonymous comment at Techdirt: This wouldn’t be the same guy who was screaming bloody murder about Trump towers being under surveillance, would it?

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Encryption vs. Law Enforcement

By on February 20, 2017 in Big Brother, Cryptography, IT security, Law enforcement, Privacy, surveillance

CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) has just released its report on encryption and it comes to the same conclusions many other reports have: encryption is good for everyone and law enforcement fears are overstated and mostly-unrealized.

Techdirt: New Report On Encryption Confirms There’s More Of It, But Still Not Much Of A Problem For Law Enforcement »

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“Big Brother in the U.K.”

By on February 19, 2017 in Big Brother, Big Government, Data Protection, Privacy, surveillance, UK

The United Kingdom’s Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority is not part of an agency tasked with fighting terrorism. It’s a licensing body that “regulates businesses who provide workers to the fresh produce supply chain and horticulture industry, to make sure they meet the employment standards required by law,” according to its mission statement.

Nevertheless, under a new mass surveillance law, high-ranking officials in this agency will have as much access to the private internet information of British citizens as agencies that actually do fight terrorism. So will officials in the U.K.’s Department of Health, its Food Standards Agency, and its Gambling Commission, along with dozens of other government bodies.

Reason: Big Brother in the U.K. »

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Big Brother in Austria

By on February 9, 2017 in Big Brother, Civil liberties, Data Retention, Privacy, surveillance, War on Terror

New legislation in Austria:

  • Networked CCTV monitoring
  • Automatic license plate recognition
  • Government spyware
  • Data Retention Directive 2.0
  • Registration of prepaid SIM cards
  • Electronic tags for non-convicted “endangerers”
  • The government wants to establish a criminal offense for the expression of opinions which undermine the authority of the state

EDRi: Proposed surveillance package in Austria sparks resistance »

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